Steve McCrea, As a person who loves truth, I find it impossible to evaluate the purpose of this article in isolation of the distorted assumptions that it is built upon. Perhaps you see that as political; I see it as ethical. I think it was a sad mistake for MIA to post this article as “RESEARCH”?! Isn’t research supposed to unbiased and scientific??
Your article begins with an assumption that that Gaza is āoccupiedā and accepts that as a fact. I ask, occupied by whom? Since 2005 not 1 Jew or Israeli has been living in Gaza.
The Blockade? IN 2006 Hamas was elected to govern Gaza. The Hamas charter, calls for the creation of an Islamic state and the dissolution of Israel. What followed In 2007 was a partial blockage initiated by Israel and Egypt to control the movement of goods and people in and out of the Gaza Strip in order to prevent the smuggling of weapons into Gaza. Only on October 9, 2023 (2 days after the massacre of 1400 civilians in Israel) was a total blockade imposed. It is not difficult to understand the necessity of the blockade for Israelās protection.
Gaza may indeed sadly be plagued by poverty. But the elected government, Hamas, has no shortage of cash. Millions upon millions of dollars (much of it intended for humanitarian aid) has been reappropriated by Hamas into creating the tunnel infrastructure for their terror against Israel, weaponry through which to attack Israel, and to also provide extravagant life-styles for their leaders while they let their civilians live in poverty. Really, who is occupying Gaza?
Re the current war: war is always ugly; it is always traumatic and intensifies existing mental health issues. In the case of Gaza, the mental health crisis is undoubtedly exacerbated by the fact that Hamas tries to prevent the movement of civilians to safer locations (as warned by the iDF), uses children and civilians as spotters and human shields to protect themselves, as well as murdering for and stealing the humanitarian aid intended for civilians. For Hamas, showcasing their suffering Gazans and garnering world sympathy perfectly supports their stated goal to demonize and physically destroy Israel.
Casting the victim that chooses to fight back and protect themselves into the role of oppressor/ perpetrator is skewed and inaccurate. There are real reasons Gaza has suffered from the extreme poverty and proportionately greater mental health challenges, but accepting propaganda so nonchalantly does not serve to improve their conditions.
Steve McCrea, As a person who loves truth, I find it impossible to evaluate the purpose of this article in isolation of the distorted assumptions that it is built upon. Perhaps you see that as political; I see it as ethical. I think it was a sad mistake for MIA to post this article as “RESEARCH”?! Isn’t research supposed to unbiased and scientific??
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Your article begins with an assumption that that Gaza is āoccupiedā and accepts that as a fact. I ask, occupied by whom? Since 2005 not 1 Jew or Israeli has been living in Gaza.
The Blockade? IN 2006 Hamas was elected to govern Gaza. The Hamas charter, calls for the creation of an Islamic state and the dissolution of Israel. What followed In 2007 was a partial blockage initiated by Israel and Egypt to control the movement of goods and people in and out of the Gaza Strip in order to prevent the smuggling of weapons into Gaza. Only on October 9, 2023 (2 days after the massacre of 1400 civilians in Israel) was a total blockade imposed. It is not difficult to understand the necessity of the blockade for Israelās protection.
Gaza may indeed sadly be plagued by poverty. But the elected government, Hamas, has no shortage of cash. Millions upon millions of dollars (much of it intended for humanitarian aid) has been reappropriated by Hamas into creating the tunnel infrastructure for their terror against Israel, weaponry through which to attack Israel, and to also provide extravagant life-styles for their leaders while they let their civilians live in poverty. Really, who is occupying Gaza?
Re the current war: war is always ugly; it is always traumatic and intensifies existing mental health issues. In the case of Gaza, the mental health crisis is undoubtedly exacerbated by the fact that Hamas tries to prevent the movement of civilians to safer locations (as warned by the iDF), uses children and civilians as spotters and human shields to protect themselves, as well as murdering for and stealing the humanitarian aid intended for civilians. For Hamas, showcasing their suffering Gazans and garnering world sympathy perfectly supports their stated goal to demonize and physically destroy Israel.
Casting the victim that chooses to fight back and protect themselves into the role of oppressor/ perpetrator is skewed and inaccurate. There are real reasons Gaza has suffered from the extreme poverty and proportionately greater mental health challenges, but accepting propaganda so nonchalantly does not serve to improve their conditions.
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